Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Astros 4
Dickities 12
W: Volquez | L: Figueroa
HR: None
I saw the Opening Day matchup at the Phillies. A solid effort against a good team. A lead carried until the last possible chance was blown. I felt pretty good despite the loss. I haven’t seen a game since. Until tonight.
Sure, I’ve seen the scores, read the boxes, scanned the GZ. I even saw a few spring games. I know this team is not good. But I saw game one. They showed they can put it together; that the hitting can be timely and they can make the play when it’s needed. Hell, I saw the 1st inning tonight!
I watched the Good Guys take advantage of a shaky Volquez and turn patience and timely hitting into 4 runs with 10 batters to the plate in the top of the 1st. And I saw a spastic yet great catch in RF to rob the Reds’ lead-off hitter of an extra-base hit, which lead to a scoreless end to the 1st. I kept watching.
By the end of 2, the Reds had added a run on 3 straight hits and they probably would’ve had more but the inning was mercifully gifted to an end with 1st and 2nd and 1 out by a dead quail Volquez bunt that was turned into a DP.
By the end of 3, the Dickities had a 2-run lead and never looked back. The collapse was punctuated by some of the ugliest Astros at-bats I’ve seen in some time and some truly comedic improvisation in the field. The highlight, and there were many, was Towles’ attempt to gun down a runner at 3rd on a double steal. His throw somehow hit batter Hernandez’ bat and sailed into the 3rd base dugout.
I could go on. Over the course of the evening the Astros logged 5 errors and that’s being generous. They had only 2 RISP past the 1st inning and struck out 12 times. 6 more Reds runs would score as this game went on waaay longer than it should have. JD warned early that 4 runs would not be enough. HA!
I’m a patient fan. I try not to get too high or too low and it’s still only just 5 games in. On the other hand, it’s only 5 games in…